Casey Scott grew up being told he’d never amount to anything, and despite the unwavering
love and support from his best friend, Jake, the idea sticks in the back of Casey’s mind. When he
discovers he has a unique destiny in an enclave where shifters and humans live together, he
seizes the chance, wanting for once in his life to be someone special.
Tsvetok Yerokhin lost his parents to the evil ruler of the enclave when he was a boy. The
responsibilities of raising his two younger brothers nearly overwhelmed him and self-doubt
took over. When the new Alpha and his Protector arrive in time to save his life, Sev is grateful,
but he’s even more shocked when he scents his mate with them.
Casey isn’t prepared for the feelings that sweep over him when he meets Sev, but he refuses to
act on them because he’s straight. Still, there is something so alluring about Sev that Casey can’t
help being drawn to him.
As the two explore the edges of their new discovery, an evil returns, determined to control the
enclave or destroy it. The Alpha and Protector are powerless to stop it, but Casey holds the key
to victory. If he can discover what it is, he has a chance to save them all. To be the hero.
Unfortunately, the hero has to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and for Casey that
means losing his heart.[ Series should be read in order ]
~ Pride Promotions

Excerpt

“This night is shot,” Casey mumbled. “Hakii, if you’re there, I’m sorry. I need to find him. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can. Oh, and if you’re not there, I hope you’re getting a damn good laugh at me talking to myself.”
The night air had chilled considerably. Casey threw on a sweater and hurried to the Alpha’s house. Before he could pound on the door, it swung open. Jake stood there wearing nothing at all.
“Oh god, my eyes.”
Jake sighed. “You’ve seen me before. A lot, if I recall correctly.”
“And every time I do, I remember that I need to create eye bleach.”
Jake faked a laugh. “Yeah, you’re hilarious. What do you want?”
“A guy came to my house tonight. His name is Sev, and I think he’s in trouble.”
All humor fled from Jake’s face. “What happened?”
Casey told him about the visit. “He…called me his mate. What the hell is that about?”
“Later. We’ve got to find him.”
In an instant, Jake transformed into a beautiful black jaguar. Zak came rushing to the door. “What is wrong?”
Before Casey could answer, Zak grabbed a heavy coat and squirmed into it. “Jake will track him. You will come with us.”
“Zak, he called me his mate. Why would he do that?”
“You worry about this now? I do not see where this matters. If you prefer, you may stay behind.”
Casey sobered immediately. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
They tracked Jake as he hurried to the woods. When they heard him roar, Zak and Casey ran to the edge of the forest. Jake had transformed back to his human form and, man, was he pissed.
“Come out here, now,” he demanded.
There was no movement, but Casey heard a clicking noise, followed by the familiar stamping of feet.
“You spray me and I swear to the gods I will neuter you. Put your damn tail down and face us as a man, Sev.”

Q&A

1. If you were to describe your e-book/book in only one word, what would it be?
Shifty.

2. What would you say inspired you to write it?
I love shifters, and always wanted to do a shifter book. I’ve read a TON of books, several of them from Silvia Violet, and shifters fascinate me.

3. What was the source of inspiration for your protagonist? What about your antagonist?
I wanted to be a little different than most books. In Protector of the Alpha, Jake is a black jaguar, but he’s not the Alpha. Zak, the guy he’s lusting over, is. And it turns out that Zak is in charge of an enclave where shifters and humans live together. Their friend, Casey, comes along with them, and finds out he has a destiny of his own that he needs to fulfill.

4. Have you ever been hit by the infamous “writer’s block”? What did you do to escape it?
So far, no. I may get stuck on a section, but never have I gotten stuck on an idea for a story. In fact, I have about ten books in various states waiting for me to get to them.

5. Your all time favorite book?
I don’t know that I have an all-time favorite. There are many that I read depending on my mood. If I need something light and sweet, with no angst at all, I reach for Willa Okati’s ‘Mighty Casey’. It fills my needs very nicely.

6. What made you pick that one above all others?
There are times I get worked up and frustrated, and just need to decompress. Willa’s book does that in spades.

7. What’s the longest time you’ve spent working on a project?
I’ve got some books that I’ve been puttering with for a year or more. I’ll write a little, but then get distracted by another shiny, and start chasing that one. It’s not easy for me to stay on target.

8. Would you say becoming an author has changed you? In what way?
Yes, I think so. I’m still not 100% comfortable with the author appellation, but I’m finding that maybe I can write a decent story, despite being told I was wasting my time.

9. Was there ever a time, during your work on the e-book/book, when you felt like giving up? What made you change your mind?
On Protector and Scent? Not really. If I get frustrated, I’ll put it aside for a while and start working on something else, then go back to it eventually. But I love Zak, Jake, Casey, and Sev, so there is that.

10. What does your day-to-day life consist of? What else do you do, aside writing?
I’m the owner of Pride Promotions, an LGBT promotion services for authors. I take several hours a day to do graphics and scheduling tours for them with some pretty damned amazing bloggers.

11. How do you deal with bad reviews or acid criticism? What would you advise other authors to that effect?
Don’t read reviews. Seriously. If you get them from a review site, okay, but don’t go to Goodreads or Amazon, because sometimes it just tears out your heart. If you really want to know what’s being said there, ask a friend to go and gather the reviews for you, but don’t let a review deter you.

12. Is this title part of a series? Without giving us spoilers, of course, what can we expect from the next e-books/books in the series?
Well since technically Scent of the Heart IS the next book… Casey is settling into his role as the shaman for the enclave, but he’s lonely. For all the time they’ve been there, none of the women will see him as any more than a friend or their shaman. Then he meets Sev, and he can’t explain why he’s drawn to him, as he’s never been attracted to men before.

As they dance around one another, an evil returns that neither the Protector or the Alpha can defeat. Casey has the abilities, but he’s already been beaten, and now he isn’t sure if he can win. And even if he does, there’s a price to be paid.

13. What do you have stored for us in the future? What are you working on/planning on next, aside this title/series?

The next (and probably final) book in the series is a more traditional shifter story, but with a few twists. I can’t say much about it since it’s only in the planning stages, but there’s a war brewing.

14. What made you decide to go the self-pub way?

I work with an amazing group of people (I’m writing Pulp Friction 2015 with them), and they encouraged me to give self-publishing a try. I found I really enjoy it.

15. What would you say was the toughest part?

I have yet to get the hang of formatting the darn books. I’m lucky that I found Author.Services. I’m more than happy to pay them to take care of those things for me, because if I had to do it, it would take me months.

16. Did you hire professionals for editing, cover design, formatting?
Yes! If you’re going to do it, you should do it right. Author.Services takes care of the formatting, Laura Harner has done absolutely amazing covers for me, and the Pulp Friction group introduced me to their editor, who is now mine. Even if she is mean and makes me do edits.

17. How did you decide who to hire, if you worked with pros?

Working with Laura Harner, Lee Brazil, Havan Fellows, and Tom Webb, brought me into the bubble of some very talented people that have been as helpful as the authors themselves.

18. How long did the production part take, from the moment you began working on the manuscript to self-pub to when you hit ‘Publish’?

Scent of the Heart took about three months to write, and another month to get through all the edits (because I asked the editor to go slow on them as I had other projects I was working on at the time). The ‘publish’ button will be pushed pretty soon for this one, and I’m excited.

19. Where is your work being distributed, Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, AllRomanceEbooks/Omnilit, some other distributor? How did you decide which one(s) to go with?

I’ve got most of my books at all of them. Lost Time was recently put on Kindle Unlimited because I wanted to give it a try.

20. If you could turn back in time and do things differently, would you? What would you change?

If I could go back in time, I would do my best to ignore the naysayer who told me I was wasting my time trying to write. It cost me many years and generated a lot of self-doubt.

21. If you were to recommend one article, blog, post, or book to someone hoping to self-pub, what would it be?

Ooh, if there’s a book like that, tell me! Actually, if you’re going to self-publish, expect to put in a lot of time finding the right people to work with, because no one can wear all the hats as a self-publisher. Find an editor, find a proofreader, a cover designer.

Fun facts:

1. Favorite season?

Autumn. I love the cooler weather, being able to be outside without sweating to death, and seeing the leaves change is always an amazing experience.

2. How about fav time of 24 hours?

The three to four hours that I sleep a night. 

3. Favorite food for breakfast?

I was a third shift worker for 25 years. I no longer eat traditional breakfast. Most mornings we have something with pasta or gnocchi, and maybe a vegan meatball sandwich or vegan fish filet sandwich.

4. Latest book you’ve bought and read?

I just finished reading Julie Lynn Hayes ‘When Will I Be Loved’, book two of her series. (First book was ‘When Will I See You Again’, and it kept me away until two in the morning because I had to finish it.)

5. Cats or dogs?

We have four dogs and three cats, so we don’t discriminate amongst our furry friends.

Giveaway

About the Author & Links:

Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that come with melding lives together.
Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Parker held his job for nearly 28 years before he decided to retire and try new things. He enjoys his new life as a stay-at-home author and also working on Pride-Promotions, an LGBT author promotion service.

Thank you, Natalie! When I used to work third shift, people couldn’t understand who I didn’t do ‘breakfast’ at 7 in the morning. For me, it was the end of my day, so it was dinnertime. (Okay, fine, I’m just weird like that.)Parker Williams recently posted…Crossed Wires Book Blast

Haus Butterfly Crest xD

FTC Disclosure

The owner(s) of this blog is(are) often offered free copies to provide opinion on books. All such reviews are labeled “RBR” [review by request], i.e. the review has been requested by the author/publisher etc directly or indirectly (through NetGalley, Edelweiss, book tour) and I have been provided with a free review copy, marked as Source: review copy.
All reviews are entirely the reviewer's opinion, are not influenced by the review copy offered and no monetary compensations are accepted for them!